FIN
NOW OPEN FOR LUNCH

We recently spotlighted dinner at FIN in Culver City, which offers first rate options for sushi and Asian tapas—think the culinary styles of French, American and Latin cooking come together. Well now FIN is serving lunch that equally delights.

The setting at lunch is still charming and inviting but during the day it’s a lot brighter in the dining area and even more welcoming. Lunch at FIN includes salads, tapas, hand/cut rolls, rice bowls and two “build-your-own” FIN bento boxes.

There are seven salad options to choose from, including tofu salad, Asian chicken salad, chicken wasabi pea avocado salad, and even cucumber sunomonowith pickled sliced cucumbers, sesame seeds and rice wine vinaigrette. During our recent visit for lunch, we started with the solid seaweed salad, which is really fresh and very tasty. It’s a great starter, especially if you’re looking for some greens in your daily diet.

There are 16 tapas options ranging from $3 to $11 each, and while that may seem a bit daunting, know that you can order a lot of those items as part of your bento box if you go that route, which is what we did. The tapas that we ordered off the menu included the Tuna Jalapeno Crispy Rice, which is just a favorite of mine with flash seared rice cakes and spicy tuna topped with jalapeno, along with the Jicama Tacos, which are fresh and clean but not a must-have. The Albacore Onion is very nice, as is the Chick Kara-Age (lovely fried chicken).  I would really recommend both. The onion dish is crispy and so delectable, as is the chicken.

The Tuna Poke rice bowl is a solid and hearty lunch option, and a great deal at $12. The poke is prepared with cubed raw ahi marinated with sea salt, soy sauce, sesame oil and seaweed and chopped chili pepper. This is a very filling meal on its own or great to share.

And while I'm not the biggest fan of FIN's cocktails, they do have a nice sake selection, which pairs very well with most of the lunch items. That's my recommendation on how to go if you want booze with your lunch but I'm sure that most people have to race back to work so cocktails and/or sake may not be on your afternoon radar.

The bento box is a great way to go at lunch. Served with rice, miso soup and salad, you get your option of one cut roll and one tapas for $12 or two choices for $17, which may be more than you want to spend at lunchtime, it’s more than I like to shell out, but if you’re sharing, it’s a great way to go. For our bento box, we ordered the baked crab cut roll, along with the Kurobuta sausage, and the pumpkin tempura with curry for our vegetable choice. Damn fine lunch!

We did manage to save room for the most decadent dessert—think chocolate overload! We had the flourless chocolate cake, which is terrific, but the brownie with black sesame ice cream isn’t just a homerun, it’s a grand slam. This one is just unreal. And if you’re an adventurous lunch eater, let me recommend a glass of Bulleit Bourbon to pair with your chocolate—genius!

Now there’s even more reason to venture to Culver City as lunch at FIN is solid and so satisfying.

FIN is located at 12223 West Washington Blvd in Culver City and is open for lunch from 11:30am to 2:30pm Monday through Friday. Call 310-398-8611.

Story by Jose Martinez

Photography Courtesy of: FIN